Reflections on the Magnificat
by A Sinner
Summary: The Magnificat, or the "Canticle of Mary" is chanted by many Catholics every day in the evening as part of the Liturgy of the Hours. The Magnificat is more than a hymn of praise to the Father. It can reveal so much to us about God. Please, take the time to review and be nice. Rated T just to be safe.


Hello, everyone. Just a few notes. This isn't really a story. These are reflections on certain aspects of Sacred Scripture that are interpreted according to Church teaching. I am a Latin Rite Catholic, and I try my best to follow the teachings of Holy Mother a church, but some times struggle under the weight of my sins (don't we all?). I have no standing in the Church, so I am a layperson. If you think I made a mistake in Church teaching, tell me (but be nice, please). I have been taking religion classes my whole life and I am a senior in high school. I also plan to make an actual story with multiple chapters once I figure it out. Blessed Advent, and merry Christmas.

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The Magnificat is also known as the Canticle of Mary, and is found at Luke 1:46-55. This is one of the most well known passages of Scripture and is sung every day at Evening Prayer by Catholics all over the world. It begins with the phrase "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Today, I want to really look into this passage of Luke's Gospel and see what God is trying to tell us here.

We see a verse that to me, is evidence of Marian veneration. Mary spoke the prophetic words "...For He has looked with favor upon His lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name." We get the Magnificat from Luke's Gospel during the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear the Son of God. Now, the Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholics have a beautiful name for Mary. They call her "Theotokos", which translates to "God bearer". Mary bore the Son of God in her womb. She endured all of the pains of pregnancy simply because God asked her to. I say "asked" because Mary could have said "no", but she was too lowly to see herself as being above God's will. We can see this demonstrated in Mary's "Fiat" (Latin for "So be it"). When she says "Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum Tuum." Or in English, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to Thy word." I can go on forever about the Blessed Mother, but I want to focus on the Magnificat as a whole. We can summarize it this way, Mary is a model for us all, and as we say in the Hail Mary, "Blessed art thou amongst women…"

The next part goes, "He has mercy on those who fear Him/in every generation." This part is so true. God has shown mercy throughout Salvation History. Starting with the Fall of Man, all the way up to modern times and He will continue to do so until the end of time. The most striking example of this mercy is, of course, the Passion and Death of His Son, Jesus Christ. God could have killed Adam and Eve when they ate from the tree, but He allowed them to live. He could have punished Cain, or simply abandoned him. But instead, God gave Cain a just punishment by forcing him to leave, and giving him protection. God could have abandoned the Israelites, but He didn't. When the Israelites asked for forgiveness, He was there to rescue His people. Finally, He gave His Son, Jesus Christ. The perfect and final sacrifice, the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). This is the ultimate act of love and mercy. Love, because God gave His Son to save us from

death and Hell. This is also an act of love because the Romans didn't take Christ's life. He laid it down willingly. Merciful, because this act of love allows us mortals, sinners, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. God truly does show mercy to those who fear Him, in every generation from now until the end of time.

"He has shown the strength of His arm/He has scattered the proud in their conceit." What does this mean? I think the answer is fairly obvious. God sometimes "flexes His muscle" so to speak. But how does He do this? Look around you! We can see God's power in the waves of the ocean, in the burning fire, the earthquake, the wind, and in storms. This is similar to God flexing His muscle. When we look at the power of the natural world, we see God's power. Now, how does God scatter the proud? Could this verse be telling us that all mankind is humbled before the power of God? I know I am. But, could this verse also be telling us that the proud simply refuse to see the power of God? That they just want to say "Nothing made that! It's an accident!" We, of course, know that God made the world. We should also try to remain humble before God. Remember that we are humans. He is the Creator and we are the creation.

This line also shows how God values the lowly, which is clearly shown in the next verse "He has cast down the mighty from their thrones/and has lifted up the lowly." Here, we can see how God loves the lowly. God shows at various occasions in the Old Testament that He is not a fan of large egos. There are various occasions where God knocks people down a couple of pegs, such as the Israelites. They go through a period of growth and prosperity and then they think "We can do this on our own. Maybe we don't need God's help." God then allows them to be conquered by a neighboring civilization. Remember, "He has cast down the mighty from their thrones," the Israelites then see the error of their ways and come back to God. By humbling themselves, God sees for to lift them up and restore them to their former glory.

Let's look at the following verse, "He has filled the hungry with good things/and the rich He has sent away empty." There are many times in the Gospels where Jesus tells us that the rich can't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This idea was a stumbling block for me because I come from a wealthy family. We have plenty to eat and a lovely house. My physical needs are more than taken care of. But, this can't mean that anyone who was born into a wealthy family is automatically condemned to Hell. We have be careful with this verse because it can lead to despair in some cases because the person reason this may look at this verse and think they're eternally screwed. I think that God is saying that the person who doesn't help others will be sent away empty. We can easily be mislead into thinking that God hates anyone who has any sort of surplus, but this simply isn't true. God still loves the wealthy, but He has a special love for the poor and abandoned, the lost and the hungry. This means that we have a duty to give to those who are less fortunate than us, to help the lost and forsaken. If you see a beggar on the street, what do you do? You, like most people (myself included) look down and pretend to ignore them. We say to ourselves "They're just going to use the money for drugs or something." or, "I don't have time to help them." We don't know what's in that person's heart. I like to see the best in people. I like to think "Maybe this man really is going to use this money for food?" We don't know what made the poor poor, so what gives us the right to immediately say that they're on drugs? We simply don't have that right. So, this verse sounds to me like a call to help the poor. Let's try to work on that one together.

Next, we read "He has come to the help of His servant Israel/for He has remembered His promise of mercy. The promise He made to our fathers/to Abraham and his children forever." This whole chunk of text shows that God doesn't forget His covenant or His people. There isn't as much to say here, except for the fact that God did come to the aid of Israel, and are comes to our aid as well if we ask Him. All we have to do is say the word, and He will come to help us. There's a prayer that's said at the beginning of the Divine Office that sums this up perfectly. It goes, "O God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me."

So, we've really looked at the Magnificat. Please, read this passage yourself. Tell me, what do you see. I can almost guarantee you that you will see something different. God reveals so much to us through Sacred Scripture, but each individual sees something different as God speaks to each of us in different ways. What the Holy Spirit tell you? What did you learn from the Scriptures? Please, tell me what you think. Have a happy, and blessed Advent. Also,

God bless,

A Sinner


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